Alliance for Food and Farming

The Alliance for Food and Farming acts as a front group for the fruit and vegetable industry, claiming the safety of numerous pesticides. According to its website, the group "was formed in 1989 and currently has a membership of approximately 50 agricultural groups representing a wide range of organizations including commodity boards, major farm groups and individual grower/shippers." It was registered as a non-profit in 1997 and does not disclose its member organizations. In July 2010, the Alliance for Food and Farming held a webinar and released a paper aiming to "debunk" the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" list of the most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables that should be purchased as organic whenever possible.

Grant Awarded to Defend Pesticides Use on Food Crops
In September 2010, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced a grant of $180,000 to the Alliance for Food and Farming for a project titled "Correcting Misconceptions about Pesticide Residues." The CDFA press release describes the project as follows: "The project seeks to correct the misconception that some fresh produce items contain excessive amounts of pesticide residues. Claims by activist groups about unsafe levels of pesticides have been widely reported in the media for many years, but have largely gone uncontested. Continued media coverage of this misleading information is damaging to producers of California specialty crops and may also have a negative impact on public health. Utilizing sound science backed by a team of nutrition and toxicological experts, the Alliance for Food and Farming will seek to provide the media, the public and various target audiences with information about the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables. The goal is to generate more balanced media reporting and change public perception about the safety of produce when it comes to pesticide residues."

The grant money awarded was through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program for 2010, a program authorized in the farm bill. ("Specialty crops" refers to fruits, nuts, and vegetables.)

Attack on the Environmental Working Group's "Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce"
In July of 2010, AFF launched an attack of the Environmental Working Group's "Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce," which lists the types of produce known to have the greatest amount of pesticide residues as well as those with the lowest. The list has been credited with helping increase sales of organic produce. The list had existed for ten years during which it had educated consumers about the relative levels of pesticide residues on commonly-purchase fruits and vegetables. AFF began its attack by claiming that EWG's Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides was scaring consumers by making them afraid of pesticides, thus inhibiting peoples' consumption of fruits and vegetables. AFF started a three-year campaign to dissuade consumers from buying produce containing less pesticide residues, whether organic or not. As part of this campaign, AFF published an "Expert Panel Report" written by Penny Fenner-Crisp, Carl L. Keen, Jason R. Richardson, Rudy Richardson, and Karl K. Rozman.

Board of Directors
Although a list of members are not available, lists of the Board of Directors from 2006-2008 make clear a number of the most prominent member organizations within the Alliance. Below are the Board of Directors for 2008 unless otherwise noted.


 * President: Richard Peterson, Executive Director of California Dried Plum Board
 * Vice Chair: Matt McInerney, Executive Vice President of Western Growers
 * Secretary/Treasurer: Jim Howard, Director of Communications at California Table Grape Commission

Directors:
 * Rick Tomlinson, Director of Government Affairs for California Strawberry Commission
 * Ed Beckman, President of California Tomato Farmers
 * Barry Bedwell, President of California Grape and Tree Fruit League
 * Bruce Knobeloch, Chief Operating Officer of River Ranch Fresh Foods
 * Mark Murai, President of California Strawberry Commission
 * Kathleen Nave, President of California Table Grape Commission
 * Sheri Mierau, President of California Tree Fruit Agreement
 * Rosanna Westmoreland, Division Manager CommNews for the California Farm Bureau Federation
 * Claire Smith, Sunkist Growers
 * Terry Stark, Executive Director of California Association of Pest Control Advisers
 * Dave Kranz, Manager of Media Services for the California Farm Bureau Federation
 * Renee Pinel, President & CEO of Western Plant Health Association
 * Bryan Silbermann, President & CEO of the Produce Marketing Association
 * Bob Whitaker, Chief Science Officer of the Produce Marketing Association

Previous Directors:
 * Blair Richardson, California Tree Fruit Agreement (2006)
 * Ann Schmidt-Fogarty, formerly with the California Farm Bureau Federation (2006)
 * Lorna Christie, Produce Marketing Association (2007)

Contact

 * Alliance for Food and Farming
 * 585 Auto Center Dr
 * Watsonville, CA 95076-3764
 * Website: http://www.foodandfarming.info
 * Phone: (831) 786-1666

External resources

 * California Department of Food and Agriculture 2010 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program – Farm Bill, California Department of Food and Agriculture, September 2010.

External articles

 * Pesticide Industry to Use Tax Dollars to Attack Critics, Environmental Working Group, September 21, 2010.